Germany, Wehrmacht. A 1939 Iron Cross I Class, by Schauerte & Höhfeld

(Eisernes Kreuz 1939 I. Klasse). Reinstituted 1 September 1939. (1939-1945 issue). Constructed of iron and silver, consisting of a vaulted Cross Pattée with a blackened magnetic iron core within a ribbed silver frame, the obverse with a central mobile swastika, the six o’clock arm with a reinstitution date of “1939”, the reverse with a central threaded lug retaining a matching backplate, with a stabilizing pin emanating from the twelve o’clock arm, maker marked with LDO code “L/54” for Schauerte & Höhfeld, Lüdenscheid, measuring 43.98 mm (w) x 43.95 mm (h), weighing 17.3 grams, the frame has separated along the seams of the three, six, and twelve o’clock arms (possibly as a result of post-manufacture vaulting), in very fine condition.